Tim Banks is the CEO of APM, a Canada wide construction and property development company, with its head office in Charlottetown, PEI. My family has lived on PEI for over eight generations and I was born at the Prince County Hospital in Summerside, PEI. I am hoping someone will soon develop a blood test to authenticate when you actually become an "Islander" as I am still having problems explaining where I'm from?

Thursday, August 28, 2008

In our property development business there are three things that stand out in order to be successful in getting a return on your investment and they are; location, location, location and if you get that right then the rest is easy. I think a similar analogy can be identified for our tourism and retail operators and that is service, service, service. The following survey suggests that most people don't have a lot of patient for poor service and they will usually head for a competitors business. As we all head into a tougher economy I think we all have to start to focus on our service levels to keep our customers coming back...Survey suggests Canadians tired of waiting in lineBy The Canadian PressTORONTO — A new survey suggests Canadians are so fed up of waiting in line because of slow service at the bank, at the bus stop, at the grocery store and elsewhere that many just walk away. The survey was released Wednesday by marketing research firm, Maritz Research Canada, which says consumers are abandoning their shopping carts and delaying their purchases in record numbers. Maritz says a whopping 86 per cent of participants polled admitted to walking out of a store frustrated with having waited too long for service. The online poll of 1,300 Canadians finds department stores lose the greatest amount of business because of frustrated customers leaving empty-handed. But tolerance for wait times varies. Survey respondents say they would consider leaving a grocery store if they had to wait longer than 15 minutes, but they would stay up to 81 minutes before considering leaving a medical institution. Maritz says customers are also more forgiving and inclined to wait longer if they are greeted with a smile, given an estimate of how much longer they would have to wait — or if they were offered an apology. Maritz president Rob Daniel says retailers should keep in mind that customers frustrated by long waits will go to the competition and are inclined to rant to other people about their experience. But the survey did not directly address issues such as short-staffing or get the views of employees who have to serve impatient customers.